Sharpener for talking-machine needles.



E. P. OHANEY.

SHARPENBR FOR TALKING MACHINE NEEDLES,

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5, 1911.

1,009,894, Patented Nov. 28, 1911.

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COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH 60.,WA5MINOTON, n c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD 1?. CHANEY, 0F MOLINE, ILLINOIS.

SHARPENER FOR TALKING-MACHINE NEEDLES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD P. CrIANnY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Moline, in the county of Rock Island and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sharpeners forTalking-Machine Needles, of which the following is a specification.

The use of fiber needles in the reproduction of sound by means oftalking machines is becoming common, and is attended by certainadvantages, but a serious disadvantage is the necessity of frequentlyre-sharpening the needles. These needles are usually made of strips ofbamboo fiber or similar material, triangular in cross-sectional form,with the end of the needle cut on an incline so as to form a point. Inuse this point engages the moving record disk or cylinder.

It is the object of my invention to provide a device by the use of whicha satisfactory point may be quickly formed on a fiber talking machineneedle with ease and certainty. This object I accomplish by providing anabrading member and a member in which the needle is held with its enddirected toward the face of the abrading member at an angle with suchface. The abrading member and needle holder are arranged to bereciprocated past each other with an increasing pressure between theneedle and the abrading device as the needle travels along the surfaceof the abrading device in the direction which causes the point to be inadvance of the rest of the needle. Preferably the abrading device willbe the stationary member and the needle holder the relatively movablemember, this holder thus becoming a carrier for the needle.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a satisfactoryembodiment of my invention.

In these drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of the device; Fig. 2 is afront elevational view of the same; Fig. 3 is a rear elevational view;Fig. 1 shows a cross-section taken through the device slightly to theleft of the adjusting screw for the abrading device, as seen in Fig. 1,the needle carrier being shown in elevation, and Fig. 5 is a perspectiveview of a sharpened needle.

In the several figures of the drawings 10 is the base of the machine,from which rises a wall 11 which extends around three edges of the base.A partition wall 12 extends longitudinally of the base and pro-Specifieation of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 5, 1911.

Patented Nov. 28, 1911.

Serial No. 625,238.

vides, with the wall 11, a chamber or pocket into which falls thematerial which is ground off the end of the needle. An car 13 extendsupward from the wall 11 and is provided with a vertically extendingnotch 14: which receives a lug 15 formed on the member 16 which carriesthe abrading member 17. The latter may consist of a file or a bar ofcarborundum, preferably the latter. The holder for the abrading deviceis provided with a clamping screw 18 which extends through the notch 11into the holder 16 and is formed with a collar 19 which, when theclamping screw is tightened, engages the ear 13 and clamps the holder 16against vertical movement. 16 in its movement when being adjusted V61"tically, so that the abrading device is always held in longitudinalalinement with the di rection of movement of the needle holder. Thisneedle holder is designated 20 and is supported upon a rod 21 and theupper edge of the wall 12. To prevent the needle holder 20 from becomingseparated from the rest of the machine the same may be provided with asleeve 22 through which passes rod 21. This rod is supported at its endsin ears 23, 2 1 which extent upward from the wall 11.

The upper surface of the needle carrier 20 is formed with a groove 25which is formed to receive the needle 26 and prevent the latter fromturning over. During the operation of sharpening the point of theneedle, the carrier 20, with the needle 26 in place therein, is movedfrom its left hand position or the position in which it is shown in Fig.1, toward the right until the carrier engages the wall 11 at the righthand end of the machine.

The holder for the abrading device is provided with suitable means, suchas the screw 27, for adjusting the right hand end of the abrading device17 toward and away from the path of travel of the needle holder. Byturning the screw 27 in, the right hand end of the abrading device 17may be moved toward the path of the needle holder. It will be seen thatwhen the device is thus adjusted, if the needle be placed in the needlecarrier with its point in contact with the abrading device when thecarrier is at its extreme left hand position, and the carrier be thenmoved to the right, the pressure exerted upon the end of the needle bythe abrading device will increase as the carrier travels from one end ofthe machine to the other.

The lug 15 guides the holder In practice the needle is held in place inthe groove of the carrier by the finger of the person using the machine.The needle is thus permitted to recede or slide back in the carrier ifthe angle between the surface of the abrading device and the path oftravel oftthe needle holder is excessive. If this angle be properlyadjusted, the end of the needle will be ground ofi just sufficient, whenthe carrier reaches the limit of its travel, so that the needle isproperly pointed. Preferably the abrading device, which ordinarily willconsist of a bar of carborundum, as above stated, will be rectangular incross-sectional form so that all four sides may be used. To hold theabrading bar in place in the holder 16, the latter is provided with awing 28 which extends below the abrading bar and upon which the latterrests. Upon the upper side of this bar there is laid a Hat plate 29 uponwhich bears the end of a clamping screw 30, by means of which theabrading device is securely held in position.

I claim:

1. In a sharpener for talking machine needles, the combination with anabrading device and a holder for the needle arranged to be reciprocatedat an angle with respect to each other, whereby the pressure of theabrading device on the end of the needle is varied.

2. In a sharpener for talking machine needles, the combination of anabrading clevice, a carrier for the needle, and means for guiding saidcarrier and permitting the same to be reciprocated along the face of theabrading device, the face of said abrading device being inclined to thepath of travel of said carrier.

3. A sharpener for talking machine needles comprising an abradingdevice, a reciprocating carrier for the needle, and means for supportingsaid abrading device, said means permitting adjustment of said abradingdevice transversely of the path of said carrier.

A sharpener for talking machine needles comprising an abrading device, aholder for the abrading device, a reciprocating carrier for the needlearranged to present the needle to said abradingdevice with its endengaging the latter at an acute angle, guides for determining the pathof movement of said needle carrier, and means for adjusting the positionof said abrading device in its holder with respect to said guides.

5. A sharpener for talking machine needles comprising an abradingdevice, a reciprocating carrier for the needle arranged to present theneedle to the abrading device at an acute angle, and means forsupporting said abrading device at an angle with the path of saidcarrier, said supporting means permitting adjustment of the anglebetween the abrading device and the carrier.

6. A sharpener for talking machine needles comprising a base, a guidecarried by said base, a needle carrier arranged to travel along saidguide, a bar of abrading material, a holder for said bar, locking meansfor adjustably securing said holder in position, and means carried bysaid holder for adjusting said bar of abrading material in said holderto vary the angle between the face of said bar and the path of saidneedle holder as determined by said guide.

7. A sharpener for talking machine needles comprising a base, a bar ofabrading material supported by said base, a reciprocating carrier, andmeans for guiding said carrier in a path inclined to said bar, saidcarrier having a groove to receive the needle, said groove beinginclined to the path of said carrier.

8. A sharpener for talking machine needles comprising a base having aportion eX- tending therefrom, a holder, a clamping screw for securingsaid holder on said por tion, a bar of abrading material, means forclamping one end of said bar in said holder, a screw carried by saidholder for adjusting the position of the opposite end of said bar, and areciprocating carrier having a groove to receive the needle, said grooveeX- tending at an acute angle with the path of the carrier.

EDWARD P. GHANEY.

IVitnesses:

M. N. J oHNsoN, A. C. WVooDYA'rT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). G.

